22. Didn’t you know? I’ve always been kind to you.

‘Is he finally letting me go?’

The moment Evelyn, tense as ever, lifted her head, a firm arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Held in Rashid’s embrace, Evelyn felt the warmth enveloping her whole body—and once again, her heart began to pound wildly.

“Lord Rashid, Lady Evelyn. Are you unharmed?”

The one who appeared through the now-opened basement door was Robert, the butler of House Egenhart.

Grabbing onto the rope that the butler had thrown down, the two barely managed to escape from the basement.

Upon returning to the surface, they found that the debt collectors had already vanished without a trace.

“When we heard that Lord Rashid hadn’t come out, we assumed something had gone wrong. So I set out at once with the servants.”

The kind butler offered Evelyn a blanket he had prepared.

“When we arrived, the place was already deserted. I suppose they fled after hearing the carriage approach.”

“Hmm.”

Rashid frowned at the report.

Evelyn also felt uneasy about it.

‘They may have fled, but the promissory note is still in their hands. I have to get that back no matter what.’

“Ah, and Lady Evelyn, we sent someone to the Berge estate, and it seems the baron has returned home safely.”

“Thank goodness.”

Evelyn let out a deep sigh of relief.

The tension that had been gripping her since earlier eased at the news that her father was safe.

“I’ll take you home by carriage.”

Stepping ahead toward the carriage, Rashid reached his hand out to Evelyn.

The gesture, offering help to board the carriage, left Evelyn unexpectedly touched.

“You’re being especially kind today.”

“Didn’t you know? I’ve always been kind to you, Lady Evelyn.”

At the shameless joke, Evelyn let out a soft chuckle.

The moment she accepted Rashid’s extended hand without hesitation—

“Ah! That man!”

Under the shade of a tree in the distance, Evelyn spotted a plump man and quickly raised her hand.

“He’s one of them!”

Just when she thought they’d all run off, one had stayed behind, seemingly to scope out the situation.

“He’s the one who grabbed me and dragged me into the basement!”

Her wrist still throbbed from where he’d gripped it.

‘I won’t feel better until I give him a good kick with my heel.’

Realizing he’d been spotted, the man began to slowly back away.

“…He laid a hand on you?”

Rashid’s lips twisted.

Something had clearly enraged him.

‘Oh no! Danger!’

A red warning light went off in Evelyn’s mind.

Rashid making that kind of face meant that what followed would definitely be—

Whooooosh.

A sharp wind cut past her ears.

Evelyn could feel the rush of unnaturally charged magic in the air prickling against her skin.

“Lord Rashid! You said you don’t use magic!”

It hadn’t even been a few hours since their talk about it being a relic of a bygone age!

“Hu hu hu hu…”

Instead of an answer, Rashid gave a laugh that sounded as though he’d lost all reason.

Where had he gone so off the rails?

The next instant, without giving Evelyn a chance to stop him, Rashid unleashed his magic.

Vivid blue flames illuminated the surrounding darkness in a dazzling blaze.

***

Rumble, crash!

A bright yellow flash lit up the window outside the dark carriage, and Evelyn flinched without realizing it.

Rain had been falling since earlier in the day, and now, thunder and lightning had begun to rage.

Only the bright flashes of yellow lightning lit the pitch-black night sky.

Boom, rumble…!

As the deafening noise echoed from beyond the playroom window, Evelyn furrowed her brow ever so slightly.

Even in the warmly heated room, an odd chill ran through her.

“Are you scared of thunder, Lady Evelyn?”

Sitting crookedly at a desk and flipping through the pages of a book, Rashid asked.

At the seriousness in his eyes, Evelyn answered honestly.

“To be honest… I am a little scared.”

On stormy nights like this, the memories inevitably returned.

The night of the accident in her original world.

The memory of that day, when she’d been unwillingly swept into her fate, resurfaced in Evelyn’s mind.

You could almost call it a kind of trauma.

Boom! Crash!

Another loud thunderclap struck the ground.

Rashid silently watched as Evelyn’s hand, holding a cooling teacup, trembled ever so slightly.

Rashid was curious.

What could have possibly made the usually fearless Lady Evelyn afraid of a thunderstorm?

They had been playmates since they first met at the age of eight, spending most of their time together since then.

Rashid still didn’t want to admit there were things about Evelyn he didn’t know.

“Lady Evelyn, why are you so afraid of thunderous nights?”

Unable to suppress the growing doubt, Rashid asked Evelyn. At his question, Evelyn’s expression briefly turned troubled.

“The reason is…”

“The reason?”

“Even if I explained, Lord Rashid, I don’t think you would understand.”

True to her nature as Evelyn Berge, her reply was gentle and calm, but Rashid couldn’t accept it. 

Then he realized—there was a faint sadness in Evelyn’s face as she spoke those words.

And at the same time, fierce anger erupted within him. Why was there something about Lady Evelyn that he didn’t know? Rashid simply couldn’t accept it.

Evelyn Berge.

To Rashid Egenhart, she was the one and only person in his life. Perhaps… truly the only one… The words lingering on his tongue couldn’t be spoken aloud just yet. Instead, Rashid gently took hold of the hem of Evelyn’s dress.

“If you’re that afraid, I’ll protect you.”

Surprised by the unexpected words, Evelyn turned to look at Rashid. Her red-tinged hair caught Rashid’s gaze.

“No matter what happens, I’ll protect you for sure…”

“I am honored to hear that, Lord Rashid.”

Evelyn replied with a smile to the boy’s youthful declaration, spoken as he tightly held onto her dress.

She had no idea then that those words would become the absolute truth that governed Rashid Egenhart’s life.

***

“Aaaaargh!”

Lady Melissa Pruden, daughter of Baron Pruden, threw her porcelain teacup to the floor in a fit of rage.

“I should’ve had that woman killed!”

When she told them to make Evelyn suffer, it had included permission to kill her. To make that happen, Melissa had to pay an enormous sum nearing 20,000 gold. 

Even for Melissa, the beloved daughter of Baron Pruden—a wealthy landowner in the capital—20,000 gold was a heavy blow. But to Melissa, pride was more important than money.

“How dare he choose such a lowly woman over me!”

Evelyn Berge, daughter of a fallen baron. A penniless noblewoman with no dowry, who abandoned noble honor and earned money like a commoner.

Compared to Melissa, there was absolutely nothing impressive about her—and yet, Duke Rashid Egenhart had chosen her. Melissa could not tolerate that fact.

“If they took the money, they should’ve done the job properly, those idiots!”

Upon hearing that Rashid had rescued Evelyn, Melissa could no longer contain her fury.

“Does she think I’ll give up? I’ll make sure she can never show her face in the capital again.”

Her pride wounded, Melissa gritted her teeth.

“Next time, I won’t let her off…”

Before she could even finish her sentence, a violent gust of wind tore through the room. A sharp flash of light stung her eyes, illuminating the wreckage of her surroundings.

“…Was it you?”

At the sound of a cold voice devoid of any warmth, Melissa opened her eyes.

A tall figure with platinum blonde hair, skin white as marble, and a chiseled nose. Wearing a tailored suit that accentuated his strong frame, the man looked like a figure straight out of a master’s painting.

The icy expression on his face, without a trace of a smile, exuded overwhelming intimidation, forcing Melissa to swallow dryly. Duke Rashid Egenhart was standing by the window.

“Duke Egenhart…”

Melissa whispered the intruder’s name with a trembling voice. Rashid approached her.

“Lady Melissa Pruden, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“…What is it, Your Grace?”

Melissa forced herself to respond, swallowing hard.

But then—

“Gasp!”

In the next moment, Melissa sucked in a sharp breath. The mercenaries she had hired were dangling in midair like insects caught in a spider’s web. Melissa realized again that the man before her was not entirely human.

Thud.

A heavy pouch of money dropped onto the dirty wooden floor. It was the pouch Melissa had thrown at Norman’s gang a few days ago when hiring them. Her eyes were instinctively drawn to it.

“I’m looking for the impudent men who locked Lady Evelyn Berge and me in a basement last night.”

‘He already knows everything!’

Melissa screamed internally.

“And I’m also quite curious about the identity of the person who hired those rude men.”

“Your Grace, that is…”

Just as Melissa hurriedly opened her mouth—

Bang!

With a loud crash, the cane Rashid had been holding grazed Melissa’s head and embedded itself deep into the wall.

“The night is still young. I suggest you think carefully before answering.”

“Your Grace, this is a misunderstanding…”

Whoosh.

This time, the cane grazed her cheek in a threatening arc.

“Didn’t I tell you? Carefully. Slowly. Speak. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

In other words, he wouldn’t stop until she gave him a satisfactory answer.

Hic!

Melissa began to hiccup. Rashid stared at her in silence, his gaze colder than ice.

“I have a great deal of patience, you see.”